The Bachelor

Who doesn’t want to meet a handsome young bachelor! They are unattached, looking for fun, and probably not ready to settle down…at least until they meet the right one. And who knows, that could be you.

Christa is more into horses than boys, but she can’t help but notice Cisco. Cisco has a way with horses, and that alone would be enough to get her attention, but he also happens to be really cute…

Cisco yawned and stretched his arms over his head, avoiding eye contact. He couldn’t have been much older than me. He had an angular face and chocolate brown eyes surrounded by thick lashes and the kind of long, lean muscles boys get from lifting bales of hay all year. I hated myself for noticing.

Christa is pretty tongue tied when she first meets Cisco, especially when she finds out he’s in high school. She’s still in middle school.

Sara pulled Kim aside and started whispering about something, probably James Miller or Dylan, leaving me and Cisco standing there like two tree stumps. Awkward silence. My toes curled in my boots. “Are you, um, in high school? I asked. “Yep,” he said and spat tobacco on the ground. Ew. Gross. “Tenth grade?” He tipped his cowboy hat back. Then picked up a rock and studied it. “Ninth.” He was in high school. Only a grade older, but an impossible gulf. I didn’t remember him from middle school. “What middle school did you go to?” “Albright.” “I’m at Spring Hills.” He was so shy–or maybe it was me. Boys. Always making girls do all the work in every conversation, as if we were born talking. “Do you ever say more than one word?” I caught a glint of mischief in his eyes. “Maybe.” “Maybe when? Maybe today?” He shrugged. “Maybe.” I found myself liking the feeling his devilish grin gave me. A weird feeling.